UG Question

[tscharke]

apologies as I am sure I have read a thread about this before but my search abilities (more like patience ) failed me!

I am traveling SYD-SIN in Y next week and just became aware of the availability of a PE upgrade seat on the return flight!

Now, the QF website wont allow me to request as I have my AA FF# allocated against the booking! I am aware that I need to replace this with my QF FF# in order to request the upgrade, however what I am not sure about is am I required to keep my QF FF# against the booking until the UG has been cleared? (which could be hours before the flight)

And would I be running the risk of there being a cough-up in successfully replacing my AA FF# against the booking before take off?

My AA Exp requal is riding on this flight so I want to be 110% certain that my AA FF# is securely allocated!

Any recommendations on whether to:

1) play safe and ride it out in Y both ways (which wont be that bad as I have managed to persaude the IT guys at work to lend me a few 9-cells batteries for the laptop so that I can "work" during the flight....(aka watch latest dl movies!)

or

2) play switch-a-roos with the FF# and get to experience QF PE with seat power, extra leg room and 1/25th more service

also, would there be any security concerns in me carry extra laptop batteries on board!

thanks all

 

[tscharke]

nothing like posting and then answering you own question!


just managed to request the upgrade through my wife's account!


mods - this post can be sent to the cleaners

 

[simongr]

apologies as I am sure I have read a thread about this before but my search abilities (more like patience ) failed me!

I am traveling SYD-SIN in Y next week and just became aware of the availability of a PE upgrade seat on the return flight!

Now, the QF website wont allow me to request as I have my AA FF# allocated against the booking! I am aware that I need to replace this with my QF FF# in order to request the upgrade, however what I am not sure about is am I required to keep my QF FF# against the booking until the UG has been cleared? (which could be hours before the flight)

And would I be running the risk of there being a cough-up in successfully replacing my AA FF# against the booking before take off?

My AA Exp requal is riding on this flight so I want to be 110% certain that my AA FF# is securely allocated!

Any recommendations on whether to:

1) play safe and ride it out in Y both ways (which wont be that bad as I have managed to persaude the IT guys at work to lend me a few 9-cells batteries for the laptop so that I can "work" during the flight....(aka watch latest dl movies!)

or

2) play switch-a-roos with the FF# and get to experience QF PE with seat power, extra leg room and 1/25th more service

also, would there be any security concerns in me carry extra laptop batteries on board!

thanks all

As discussed on msn - questions answered

 

[NM]

A few point to note:

Its an international flight, so can only waitlist for an upgrade. So I am not sure how could "became aware of the availability of a PE upgrade seat on the return flight".

You can request the upgrade from your own QF FF account without changing any FF numbers in the booking and without using someone else's account. All you need is the Amadeus booking reference number and sign in to your QF FF account and go through the motions you would to upgrade a family member. The only difficulty is when it asks for the relationship since it does not include "self" as an eligible family member. I normally pick "Father" as the relationship since I am indeed a father .

I recommend never playing the "change the FF number" game. Using the method above is safe and works.

Do note that sometimes upgraded international flights do not auto-post to AA, so if it has not posted after 3 weeks, submit an on-line request for miles credit (including the paid class not the upgraded class) and in my experience the miles will post quickly.

I often carry a spare laptop battery in my carry-on bag.

 

[tscharke]

A few point to note:

Its an international flight, so can only waitlist for an upgrade. So I am not sure how could "became aware of the availability of a PE upgrade seat on the return flight".

You can request the upgrade from your own QF FF account without changing any FF numbers in the booking and without using someone else's account. All you need is the Amadeus booking reference number and sign in to your QF FF account and go through the motions you would to upgrade a family member. The only difficulty is when it asks for the relationship since it does not include "self" as an eligible family member. I normally pick "Father" as the relationship since I am indeed a father .

I recommend never playing the "change the FF number" game. Using the method above is safe and works.

Do note that sometimes upgraded international flights do not auto-post to AA, so if it has not posted after 3 weeks, submit an on-line request for miles credit (including the paid class not the upgraded class) and in my experience the miles will post quickly.

I often carry a spare laptop battery in my carry-on bag.

becoming aware of PE availability really meant that I got off my cough and checked EF and QF awards

All sorted - request has been submitted!

good to know about the extra laptop batter situation

cheers NM

 

[NM]

becoming aware of PE availability really meant that I got off my cough and checked EF and QF awards

I still don't understand. EF does not show PE award class (Z). It only shoes W and T fares for PE cabin.

And even if there is an award seat showing as a Classic award for QF FF members, it does not upgrades will be available by 24 hours before departure. That PE award seat may be booked by another FF member as an award flight well before the upgrade lottery plays out.

 

[munitalP]

slightly off topic here but...

I'm taking it we all live in OZ (assumption 1)
I assume there's some travel to the US (assumption 2)

Tell me, what are the benefits of AA membership except the easy status earn which doesn't have noticable benefits in OZ with QF?

Also, whats the point of having to muck around with the system to get an upgrade request? Why not just be a QF member?:idea:

Sorry, but the answers allude me in this case and I welcome comments from the previous posters about their own gains of being an AA member in OZ where QF is the local airline...


:?:

Mr!

 

[simongr]

There is no longer really a easy path to status under AA as the platinum challenge needs to be undertaken on an AA flight number and I think on AA metal.

The main benefit for an Oz based FFer is the cost of redemptions. Now I dont want to endlessly debate how people value redemptions etc but some highlights:

SYD-SIN-SYD on AA miles - 90K in F + $200 in +++
SYD-SIN on QF 90K in F plus $250 in +++

RTW award in J on AA 150K+ $250 in +++
RTW award in whY on QFF 140K + $800 in +++

AA used to have some major advantages as well for OW awards in that mileage as only calculated origin-destination rather than the actual routing. Which meant for the same number of points you could create more availability by taking weird routings - for the same number of points.

There is also the points earning if a OWS (QF SG or AA Plat) - on QF you only get 50% status bonus and on AA you get 100%.

I am probably going to see a change in flight profile next year (no DONE4s) and I might actually switch back to QFF for status as status will be more important than miles next year.

 

[NM]

slightly off topic here but...

I'm taking it we all live in OZ (assumption 1)
I assume there's some travel to the US (assumption 2)

Correct on both counts for me

Tell me, what are the benefits of AA membership except the easy status earn which doesn't have noticable benefits in OZ with QF?

The initial state earn (via the Platinum Challenge) was easy. The upgrade to Exec Platinum and re-qualification of Exec Platinum is not so easy. With my travel patterns it would be much easier to qualify for QF Platinum than for AA Exec Platinum. In fact I would likely have qualified for QF Partner Gold the last two years where I have just scraped in to AA Exec Platinum.

The benefit for me is the much lower miles requirement for redeeming flight awards in premium cabins when compared to Qantas FF, and the lack of Fuel Fines to be paid on FF redemption tickets.

And the 8 free EVIP upgrades each year means I can upgrade AA flights without killing off my miles balance.

Also, whats the point of having to muck around with the system to get an upgrade request? Why not just be a QF member?:idea:

Not sure what you mean by "muck around". The process for me to request an international upgrade request using my remaining Qantas FF points balance is no different to requesting an upgrade for any eligible family member. It takes me less than a minute to log into QFF, paste in the booking reference number, type my surname and pull up the booking and then request the upgrade wiatlist. There is no mucking around as far as I am concerned.

Sorry, but the answers allude me in this case and I welcome comments from the previous posters about their own gains of being an AA member in OZ where QF is the local airline...

let me give you some examples:

Burning Points/Miles
I redeemed 3 x business class return award tickets from BNE to AKL. The only routing with 3 x U awards available during school holidays was BNE-MEL-AKL. For this award, Qantas FF wanted 3 x 100,000 points plus $750 in "taxes".

For the exact same 3 award seats, AA wanted 3 x 35,000 miles and $148 in "taxes".

So the award was about one third the number of miles/points required and a huge saving in out-of-pocket cash.

Earning Points/Miles
Our standard company policy for flights to places in Asia is for economy travel and they always seem to purchase B class fares. On Qantas, B fares earn Status Credits at the Discount Economy rate, which is one quarter the earning rate of a business class fare. While AA earns the same EQP (one measure used to determine status) at the same rate as Business and First Class fares.

I travel quite a bit through Asia and often Trans-Pacific between Asia and USA. AA pays the 100% status bonus for CX flights (to both Platinum and Exec Platinum status members), while QF does not pay the status bonus on CX flights. For my travel patterns this means I earn more AA miles for a typical trip than I would earn QF points on the same itinerary. And if I use AA trans-Pacific I can use an EVIP to upgrade.

I acknowledge this may not work out best for everyone, but it does seem to work best for me.

 

[Dave Noble]

There is no longer really a easy path to status under AA as the platinum challenge needs to be undertaken on an AA flight number and I think on AA metal.

The Platinum Challenge only needs AA flight numbers, it doesn't need to be operated by AA, so is quite easy for someone travelling to the USA

Dave

 

[simongr]

It must have been a rumour that QF09 told me that it now required AA metal. You just can't trust that guy.

 

[tscharke]

I still don't understand. EF does not show PE award class (Z). It only shoes W and T fares for PE cabin.

And even if there is an award seat showing as a Classic award for QF FF members, it does not upgrades will be available by 24 hours before departure. That PE award seat may be booked by another FF member as an award flight well before the upgrade lottery plays out.

EF showed me high availability for PE, I then checked classic award of QF which showed availability - put all this together and assumed that there was a slight chance that I could be lucky for an UG as a lowely QF pleb status! So request has been entered and now I wait...

 

[drron]

And AA works for me.Certainly more difficult to keep Exp status but my examples-
Awards for mrsdrron recently-QF J award BNE-NRT in J return-120000 +$346 in fines.AA J award NRT-JFK return-90000+$US39.60 in fines.
Upgrades-A segment on AA JFK-LHR next month in D.In june having paid as a 19 segment Global ex was able to ring AA and have confirmed upgrades for me and mrsdrron to A for no cost using EVIP's.
so it works for me.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

The main benefit for an Oz based FFer is the cost of redemptions. Now I dont want to endlessly debate how people value redemptions etc but some highlights:

SYD-SIN-SYD on AA miles - 90K in F + $200 in +++
SYD-SIN on QF 90K in F plus $250 in +++

RTW award in J on AA 150K+ $250 in +++
RTW award in whY on QFF 140K + $800 in +++

But earning AA miles is harder. There's no minimum 1000 points per flight. And common sources of points for most people in Aus (e.g. credit card points, and hotel stays) do not generate much in the way of AA miles.

And availability is just as hard to get for common routings (LAX-SYD, SYD-LHR), since you are still at the mercy of QF (or BA)

 

[Keith009]

For me the benefit of AAdvantage is in the better earn/burn and much better value awards compared to QFF. Some of the awards are even better value than doing point upgrades using QFF. That in itself is sufficient to outweigh any benefits I'd get by having status with the "home" carrier, as many on here would cite to justify QFF status.

And my most common source of miles is flying so the lack of alternative sources of miles for AAdvantage in Oz doesn't bother me. I use my Starpoints on hotel stays as i find it better value especially with the more expensive hotels than converting them to miles, and I credit Hilton stays to bmi (yet another offshore program) which is much better value than crediting them to either AAdvantage or QFF. I don't use a lot of credit cards.

I have never found myself disadvantaged relative to BAEC or QFF members when it comes to award availability, despite the T-355 vs 330 day issue. I have redeemed F and J on QF flights to/from LHR and Asia with ease, and in fact with LHR-MEL in F I found that had I waited a while longer more P class awards would've opened up (you can now choose to fly any day of the week on either flight for the week I'm interested in vs on one flight only every 3 days when I looked at 330 days out - this is for Feb09) I'd have got exactly the date I wanted. I have never done transpacific admittedly, after hearing how hard it is to find transpacific availability I simply structure my trips in such a way that I'd never have to redeem a transpacific award.

Plus 8 EVIPs are certainly handy, especially as I do actually fly a fair bit on AA metal.

So I certainly don't see how participation in QFF is going to benefit me more than status with AAdvantage as I fly approximately an equal amount of AA and QF segments. And even if I fly more QF, I still get all the Flounging I need with EXP status - 90% international so no need to worry about no lounge access on "domestic" itineraries in North America.

Certainly not for easy status (other than mid tier status and you can't do the Challenge across consecutive years anyway). If I'd wanted easy Emerald status i'd have accumulated status on QFF.

In summary - it works for me, but it may not be the same for everyone.

It must have been a rumour that QF09 told me that it now required AA metal. You just can't trust that guy.

I did tell you that I read it on another forum and have yet to personally verify...

 

[simongr]

But earning AA miles is harder. There's no minimum 1000 points per flight.

Well there is a min 500 per flight and as a AA Plat (QF SG) you would get 1000 as you get 500 for the flight and 500 status bonus.

And common sources of points for most people in Aus (e.g. credit card points, and hotel stays) do not generate much in the way of AA miles.

Agree it is harder but then the math gets complex as you have to consider the value of $1 of spend flowing to QF compared to AA

And availability is just as hard to get for common routings (LAX-SYD, SYD-LHR), since you are still at the mercy of QF (or BA)

Agree again - under the old rules for the same price you could create availability by flying through odd connections though.

 

[Dave Noble]

But earning AA miles is harder. There's no minimum 1000 points per flight.

When earning onto QF, there is only a min mileage of 1000 on QF/Jetstar . There is a min of 500 on AA and a min of 500/125 on BA . No other carriers have a min mileage guarantee

For those with PLT or EXP status there is a min mileage of 1000 on most OW carriers thanks to the status bonuses

Also, the min earning calculation is quite different

e.g. travel LAX-SFO on AA as a AA PLT/EXP vs QF Gold/Platinum

Distance 337 miles

AA EXP/PLT member
Economy : earns min mileage of 500 plus 500 status bonus = 1000
First: earns 337 + 169 F bonus + 500 status bonus = 1006

QF Gold member
Discount economy class : 169 miles plus 85 status points = 254 so earns the min of 500
Economy Class : 337 + 169 status points = 506
1st Class : 337 + 169 status points + 169 F bonus = 674

QF Platinum member
Discount economy class : 169 miles plus 169 status points = 338 so earns the min of 500
Economy Class : 337 + 337 status points = 674
1st Class : 337 + 337 status points + 169 F bonus = 843

For Qantas flights
On the short flights such as SYD-MEL/SYD-BNE/SYD-CBR/MEL-CBR there is no difference in earning on economy for AA PLT/EXP members than there is for QF members. Both earn 1000 miles

There is a difference when it comes to longer flights in classes < K since AA only earns at 50% mileage plus the status bonus, so those typically doing long discount Y flights will have a lower earning

Credit card top ups can be done from AMEX filtering across via Starwood

Dave

 

[vt01]

One small advantage QF Gold/Platinum has over AA Plat/Exp for flying domestically in the US without a connecting international flight is free access to the Admiral's club.

 

[wandering_fred]

The "other" question is with respect to the fare classes that you are able to fly. Last year my AA PLT requalification was "funded" mostly by a SIN-LHR-Canada WT+ fare. More or less 30K Qpoints on AA but would have been about 300 SC on QF. The balance was "easier" for me to come up with on AA. And the 20K price for AA awards within Australia/NZ is "useful" and perhaps the deciding factor (and VIPs at the time) in switching a number of years ago.

This year my USA trip is with CX exCMB D class which would give me QF gold (700+SC but subject to the 4 QF flights) or about the 30K AA Qpoints - but this just serves to illustrate QFs preference for biz/1st flyers. Though I'll have to remember that if I get to the point where the status matters more than the miles......

YMMV

Fred